Latin Grammys 2026: Rosalia Wins Album of the Year for Lux

Rosalia won album of the year at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday night, earning the evening's top honor for her 2025 release Lux.

The Spanish singer opened the 27th annual ceremony, broadcast live from Las Vegas, with an emotive medley of the Lux tracks 'La Rumba Del Perdon,' 'La Perla' and 'Dios Es Un Stalker,' performing alongside dancers adorned with halos on a stage designed to resemble heavenly clouds. The performance reflected the scope of the album, an offbeat, full-hearted embrace of her classical training built on sweeping orchestral movements and inspired by the lives of female saints.

Her song 'La Perla' also won song of the year. In her acceptance speech, she thanked Mexico and invited her collaborators on the track, the American urban sierreno trio Yahritza Y Su Esencia, to join her on stage.

Daddy Yankee, named the 2026 person of the year and the first Latin urbano artist to receive the honor, delivered a career-spanning set about an hour into the show. With outfit and set changes and his native Puerto Rico front and center, he ran through hits including 'Ella Me Levanto,' 'Con Calma,' 'BOTZ,' 'Despacito,' 'Lo Que Paso, Paso,' 'Sonriele,' 'Rompe,' 'Pokito' and 'Gasolina,' joined by Bizarrap, Bad Gyal, Feid, Jay Wheeler, French Montana, LL Cool J and Diljit Dosanjh.

Janet Jackson presented Daddy Yankee with his award, saying she did so 'with admiration and respect.' Accepting the honor, he closed with the words: 'Puerto Rico, recuerda.. Puerto Rico no es pequeno. Pequeno el mapa,' which translates as 'Puerto Rico, remember.. Puerto Rico is not small. The map is small.'

The ceremony took place live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, airing on Univision, UniMas, Galavision and ViX, with actor, producer and musician Roselyn Sanchez as host. The night's first televised award went to Juanes, who won best pop/rock album for Juanesteban, presented by Pablo Alboran and the Backstreet Boys' Howie D.

The evening was packed with performances. Karol G sang her musica mexicana ballad 'Ese Hombre es Malo' backed by a full orchestra and 12 mariachis, Mon Laferte delivered the soulful 'Femme Fatale,' and Silvana Estrada performed 'Dime' on the Venezuelan cuatro. Kany Garcia, Jorge Drexler and Milo J, the latter joined by folk icon Gustavo Santaolalla, also took the stage, as did Carin Leon, Juanes with Vivir Quintana, and Elena Rose.

Brazilian superstar Anitta performed a medley of songs from 'Equilibrium,' spanning funk, samba, bossa nova, semba, reggae and electronic pop in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and later won Portuguese language contemporary pop album. In her speech, she highlighted the Black culture of her native Brazil. The show also featured a tribute to late ranchera icon Jose Alfredo Jimenez, produced by Edgar Barrera and featuring The Warning, Reik, Sofia Reyes, Yami Safdie and Camila Fernandez, plus a second tribute to salsa pioneer and social activist Willie Colon, who died in February, with his son Miguel Colon, Nathy Peluso and Luis Figueroa among the performers.

Other winners included Karol G, who took urban music album for Tropicoqueta, Xavi, who earned his first Latin Grammy for contemporary Mexican album with Dosis, and Fonseca, who won contemporary tropical album for Antes Que El Tiempo Se Vaya. Best new artist went to Colombian singer Aria Vega, who accepted in tears, under new eligibility rules limiting the category to artists with fewer than three albums or 25 singles released.

Most awards were presented at a pre-televised Premiere Ceremony, where Bobby Pulido won best Tejano album for Bobby Pulido & Friends: Una Tuya y Una Mia (Vol. 2/En Vivo). Just days earlier, Pulido had made history in the U.S. midterm elections by flipping a Texas district to win a seat in the House of Representatives for the Democrats. 'I want to tell you that I'm retiring from music, and I'm leaving with so much gratitude,' he said in his acceptance speech.